Thumb sucking and finger sucking are unsightly and unhealthy habits frequently adopted by children. Although these habits are extensions of the child's innate desire to suck, some children carry the habit well beyond the age when the child is weaned from or bottle-feeding. (Except where the context of usage indicates otherwise, the term "thumb sucking" is hereafter used to denote sucking one's thumb, index finger, or any other manual digit.)
Thumb sucking not only is unsightly, it also can have side effects deleterious to a person's health. For instance, any dirt or germs on the thumb sucker's hands becomes ingested into the body. When thumb sucking persists as the child begins teething, the constant presence of a thumb between the gums can deflect the incoming teeth from their normal positions in the jaw. When a thumb sucking problem persists through the arrival of permanent teeth, the result is crooked teeth which can be overcome only by expensive and time-consuming orthodontal treatment. Persistent thumb sucking at this stage also can abrade the skin on the thumb, leading to infection. Moreover, thumb sucking can produce emotional discomfort if the child is teased by his or her peers or scolded by adults for the activity.
Thumb sucking is a recognized problem, and various attempts to overcome this problem are known in the art. For example, one kind of solution proposes various dental applicances which fit in the roof of the thumb sucker's mouth. These appliances have prongs or other protrusions extending downwardly from the roof of the mouth, to prevent inserting one's thumb into the mouth. Such devices affect the speech of the wearer and can be very unpleasant, and the devices consequently are seldom used.
Another proposed technique for curing thumb sucking involves applying various bitter-tasting liquids to the thumb. The theory here is that the thumb sucker, associating a bitter or unpleasant taste with the act of thumb sucking, will stop sucking his or her thumb. The practical result, however, usually is that the thumb sucker washes his or her hands, removing the bitter taste for renewed thumb sucking.
Various anti-thumb sucking appliances for wearing on the user's hand also are known in the art. Examples are shown in U.S. Pats. Nos. 1,345,783 and 2,684,065. Such hand appliances generally have attempted to inhibit thumb sucking either by causing the wearer discomfort when attempting to insert thumb into mouth, or by preventing the thumb sucker from forming an airtight seal around the thumb and thus thwarting the sucking action craved by the child. However, anti-thumb sucking manual appliances of the art have been less than satisfactory. Such devices tend either to cover large portions of the hand, somewhat like a partial glove, or else fit in a relatively rigid unbending manner around a particular digit on the hand. In either case, these prior-art appliances greatly encumber the thumb sucker's hand and inhibit normal manual dexterity, so that anyone wearing the appliance has difficulty in drawing or writing, or undertaking other simple tasks requiring normal manual dexterity. As a result, such appliances of the prior art soon fall into disuse shortly after acquisition. Such devices also frequently are sold only in specific sizes, or are of a "one size fits all" nature which, in practice, means that one size seldom fits anyone particularly well. Anyone selling or fitting such appliances of the art thus must maintain an inventory of various-sized devices, to fit the hands of children at different ages and undergoing various rates of growth.